Ammunition for modern firearms is generally loaded in either specialized high volume machinery such as for commercial or military production, or alternatively by low volume hand operated presses. The latter of these is commonly sold for reloading of the shell casings by sportsmen, since the cost of the shell casings represents a proportionately great fraction of the cost of ammunition, allowing ammunition to be reloaded at a fraction of the cost of the purchase from manufacturers. Such hand presses are adapted to relatively low volume production inasmuch as all of the steps in the reloading process require individual manual handling of the shell casings into the various die sets for loading of the components necessary to carry out the reloading.
For many situations, such as police departments and private shooting ranges, there is expended a high volume of ammunition and hand reloading of the shell casings is not practical.
The present inventor has heretofore invented press type ammunition loading apparatus, in which the shell casings are automatically fed and transferred through a series of work stations, in which die sets each simultaneously perform a step in the loading process by reciprocal motion of upper and lower platens. A much greater volume of production can be achieved by relatively simple and low cost equipment highly suited to medium volume production. These inventions are described and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,580,128; 3,678,799; and 3,714,860.
This equipment, while being vastly cheaper and simpler than commercial or military production equipment, is still substantially more costly than the presently available hand loading equipment, putting the cost of such equipment out of the reach of small volume users.
The devices described in the above-mentioned patents call for a motorized drive of the upper and lower platens, which motion performs the various loading functions as well as to operate a shuttle bar mechanism which is relied on to advance the shell casings through the various work stations. Such components are relatively costly and if hand operation of the device, as well as a simplification of the various components, could be achieved, the cost of the apparatus could be significantly reduced.
One of the components in the reloading apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned patents is the primer feed mechanism, which executes precision location of a feed slide bar in both of two operative positions. In the pick up position, the slide bar is adapted to receive a primer fed from a supply tube into a pocket formed in the slide bar. After pick up, primer feed slide is advanced to a position in which the pocket is disposed over the work station whereat the primer is seated in the primer pocket of the casing disposed in the work station. Both positions require a high degree of accuracy in order to insure proper feeding of the primer into the slide bar pocket and to insure proper location of the primer with respect to the primer pocket of the shell casing and the need for such precision requires relatively costly components.
Another problem encountered with respect to primer feed is clearing of a jammed condition. If a jam develops at the primer seating station due to an attempt to seat a primer in the shell casing in which the fired primer has not been removed for some reason, the slide bar will tend to jam. Since the primer seating occurs with the upper platen in the descended position, it is difficult to obtain access clearance for clearing the jammed condition, due to the positive drive connection of the feed slide mechanism with the platen drive mechanism in the arrangement described in these patents.
Accordingly, it would be convenient if the feed slide drive could be easily and quickly disconnected from the remainder of the mechanism to allow the upper platen to be conveniently withdrawn with the feed slide bar still in position.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ammunition loader of the general type described in the above-referenced patents in which the shuttle bar drive arrangement is simplified and reduced in cost.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a drive mechanism for the loader press which is simple but reliable in operation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a feed slider mechanism having the ability to be accurately positioned in either of a forward or retracted position, corresponding to the primer pick up and primer seating positions without necessitating precision components.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such a primer feed slide arrangement which allows immediate disconnection of the drive to the primer feed slide, such that the loader press mechanism can be cycled leaving the primer slide in the forward or primer seating location, enabling the convenient clearing of a jammed condition.